The Demonstration

What had to be shown is invisible to the eye, explained John Baumgartner, President of Baumgartner Environics (BEI). John invited guests to come inside, then activated a system which created a tingling effect on the face, hands and head. Inside the tent, BEI was demonstrating “An emission of negative ions,” explained Baumgartner – “a way of cleaning the air in pig and poultry barns.” Matthew Baumgartner, the company’s general manager, goes on, “The ions go to work capturing and holding particles onto interior surfaces. The net result is ventilation enhancement that results in faster gain and less mortality.” This patented system of cleaning the air in poultry and swine barns is called EPI Air (See Video of EPI Air works in a hog barn here).

Some History of Ionization

This not-so-new way of cleaning the air has been around since 1842, and its most popular industrial application is used to reduce the ash loads released into the environment by coal-fired power plants. But BEI has developed and marketed EPI Air for use in swine and poultry barns today. The patented EPI Air (Electrostatic Particle Ionization) is based out of Olivia, Minnesota, USA for agricultural buildings worldwide.

Research by Murphy-Brown

Murphy-Brown, Smithfield’s pig production division, has executed a contract to install Electrostatic Particle Ionization (EPI) systems in nursery facilities totaling 655,000 spaces and in wean-to-finish facilities totaling 864,000 spaces in their western US operations.